Is internet porn ruining our next generation? Is censorship the answer?

[Gnostic Bishop]

Perhaps the type of situation in this clip below on texting while enjoying sex, if it gets out too widespread, will bring people to recognize that we need to deal with our technology in a better way or change it altogether.

This is the kind of thing that needs to work itself out. The government has no role here. If you're sleeping with someone that does this, and you both enjoy texting while going at it, then more power to you. No one else should tell you it's wrong. But if your partner does that and it destroys the intimacy for you, tell them to stop or get a new partner.

40% or so of all births are already attributed to single parents, as well as all the negative stats that are associated with single family homes and here you are giving relationships even more impetus to break up.

Quite the social conscience that.

Regards
DL

[Dexter]

If that is not enough to make you seek a solution then there is no way for me to jog your social conscience.

Social conscience should not equate to a naive faith in government.

Should the government crack down on lying, infidelity, premarital sex, verbal abuse, not spending enough time with your kid, watching TV (violent, sexual content or otherwise), playing video games, eating unhealthy food, lack of exercise, drinking too much (but not committing a crime), irresponsible financial decisions?

The government should not try to solve many problems, it is not good at it, and there are many costs, both intended and unintended, if you value a free society.

[Interbane]

40% or so of all births are already attributed to single parents, as well as all the negative stats that are associated with single family homes and here you are giving relationships even more impetus to break up.

I'm not sure what the statistic on single parents has to do with texting while sexing. Does the texting distract the partner and he forgets to withdraw? I'm not sure I understand.

Regarding youth watching porn, there should exist tools for parents. What those tools look like and how they would work, I'm not sure.

[Harry Marks]

even child porn is an example where large rings are busted every few months, i.e. it still goes on. And regular porn is extraordinarily popular.

Right, but child porn has to operate underground. That is, people pass pictures to one another directly, but it is rare to find a site acting as a clearing-house, and none of them can get display ads to make it a business.

I can imagine soft-porn sites, with active censorship, that are healthy and don't lead to human trafficking. Unregulated it is just a cesspool of addiction and abuse. Why would anyone look around at our world and conclude that people live healthy lives and act in their own interests?

[Harry Marks]

As far as I'm concerned, nothing that restricts peoples' freedom. There might be cases where that is justified, this doesn't even come close for me.

Well, I don't find that unreasonable, but I do disagree. If you try to explain why we don't allow defecation in public, most of the reasons have the same problems as allowing sex for public consumption. "Public health" is rather vague, and the goal can be accomplished without restricting people's freedom. "It's disgusting" is true, in both cases, but difficult to draw lines around.

If you drop the assumption that freedom justifies anything that people want to do, and ask if it is a good thing, the answer seems to be no. And then if you ask, does it create harmful side-effects, the answer seems to be yes. So that looks like a case for regulation.

And it's not going to be effective anyway, 10-year-olds can probably get around government restrictions when it comes to the Internet.

I would allow them to go on any site they are willing to look at with their mother sitting next to them. For the others, I don't see the logic of having no restrictions because we can't have perfectly effective restrictions.

[Dexter]

For the others, I don't see the logic of having no restrictions because we can't have perfectly effective restrictions.

I do. Just like I wouldn't want another attempt at alcohol prohibition even though you could get around it. Again, this is a naive focus on potential benefits without looking at costs. I don't want a new agency of Internet censorship aimed at acts between consenting adults because maybe it will help someone have less access to porn.

[Gnostic Bishop]

If that is not enough to make you seek a solution then there is no way for me to jog your social conscience.

Social conscience should not equate to a naive faith in government.

Should the government crack down on lying, infidelity, premarital sex, verbal abuse, not spending enough time with your kid, watching TV (violent, sexual content or otherwise), playing video games, eating unhealthy food, lack of exercise, drinking too much (but not committing a crime), irresponsible financial decisions?

The government should not try to solve many problems, it is not good at it, and there are many costs, both intended and unintended, if you value a free society.

A free society??

Where is there such a thing when the world is owned by oligarchs?

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746

Governments do do some covert activity but seldom against it's own people. If there was something to conspiracy theories, surely we would have found at least one real one in the last bunch of theories.

I will not convince you of much but I think that we need governments to openly look at some of the issues pointed to by experts and definitely get more involved in our lives.

We just need to collectively decide what areas are of public concern and which are to remain private.

We are all a part of one demography though and should recognize that we all effect each other. Every kid that is forced to seek help is dipping into your pocket and mine when we are all contributing to the medical system.

This speaks to some of the symptoms that need investigation and funding to seek solutions.

https://ca.video.search.yahoo.com/searc ... ction=view

Regards
DL

[Gnostic Bishop]

40% or so of all births are already attributed to single parents, as well as all the negative stats that are associated with single family homes and here you are giving relationships even more impetus to break up.

I'm not sure what the statistic on single parents has to do with texting while sexing. Does the texting distract the partner and he forgets to withdraw? I'm not sure I understand.

Regarding youth watching porn, there should exist tools for parents. What those tools look like and how they would work, I'm not sure.

I hear you but have a quick listen please to the link I just put up above and see how little we men are there for our children nowadays even when it is a two parent home.

Even with the best education and blocking tools, the % of harm, to my thinking, would still be too high.

Regards
DL

[Dexter]

If there was something to conspiracy theories, surely we would have found at least one real one in the last bunch of theories.

Who's talking about conspiracy theories?

The costs of government intervention are quite in the open.

Take the war on drugs -- let's keep dangerous drugs off the streets. Sounds nice. What do we get? One of the most destructive policies imaginable. Peoples' lives are being ruined because they smoked a plant without ever committing a violent crime.

Amount spent annually in the U.S. on the war on drugs: More than $51,000,000,000

Number of people arrested in 2013 in the U.S. on nonviolent drug charges: 1.5 million

Number of people arrested for a marijuana law violation in 2013: 693,482

Number of those charged with marijuana law violations who were arrested for possession only: 609,423 (88 percent)
http://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-war-statistics

[Interbane]

Even with the best education and blocking tools, the % of harm, to my thinking, would still be too high.

How could you know that unless you knew how effective these things would be? I think you have to admit that you're making an assumption.

When we see things that harm society, there is often as much damage done in the attempt to quell the harm as the harm itself produces. For all you know, government interference could result in black market porn distribution that serves to innovate the informational black market, making it easier to pirate other things. In that case, not only would you not stop porn, but you'd create new issues. Look at China, porn is prevalent there in spite of it being illegal. When people want something harmful that's easy to produce, prohibition isn't the answer.